Chris Stewart looks to be back in goal scoring power forward mode after this two goal performance Saturday night.
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How great did it feel to walk in to Scottrade Center for a hockey game?
Not as good as it felt to walk out after the St. Louis Blues thoroughly dismantled the Evil Empire, aka the Detroit Red Wings, 6-0 in both team’s 2013 season opener.
The Blues’ offensive outburst was keyed by two forward who scored very little, to not at all, in the NHL last season. Right Wingers Vladimir Tarasenko and Chris Stewart each put the puck behind Wings netminder Jimmy Howard twice. Three of the four came on the man advantage. Center Patrik Berglund popped the fourth and final PPG of the game and TJ Oshie potted a short handed goal in the second period.
If the lopsided score doesn’t confirm how St. Louis dominated the game on home ice, maybe the following facts and figures will.
- The visitors were outshot 36 to 14 even though they had four man advantages.
- St. Louis was 4 for 5 on the power play and a perfect 4 for 4 killing penalties.
- Only two skaters on the Blues played more than 20 minutes, Alex Pietrangelo (22:08) and Kevin Shattenkirk (22:03). Meaning bench boss Ken Hitchcock could roll line after line with little letdown.
- Aside from the first handful of possessions of the first period, the vast majority of the game was spent on the Wings half of the rink.
As things often go, there were some ugly points between the bitter rivals. Jordin Tootoo continued to be Jordin Tootoo and earned imself 10 minutes in the box early in the 3rd period.
From the No Sh!t Department: Carlo Colaiacovo still has terrible luck with getting hit in the face with pucks… or about anything and anywhere else.
If one thing became apparent from the outset, Detroit is a totally different team without Nik Lidstrom. They are capable of much better play than they demonstrated, but not the juggernaut they once were with the best defenseman not named Bobby Orr gobbling up minutes like Cookie Monster inhaled Chips a’hoy…
If you would like to see Frank the Tank’s goals, hit this link.
Three Stars of the Game
1. Vladimir Tarasenko – Duh…
2. Chris Stewart – Duh…
3. Jaroslav Halak – Stopped all 14 shots he faced and was sharp through sporadic work…
Honeybadger of the Game
Captain David Backes with his game high 7 Hits
Facepalm of the Game
David Perron and his three penalties.
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Awesome blog
) Loved the humor 
)And what a game 
I was amazed at how the d-men were carrying the puck high and the precision of their passes, how much the forwards were coming back to help them too. Loved that there was always a guy to support any play…what a team;-) And of course; halak and the SO : icing on the most fabulous cake 
)
Oh, Perron, what was going on with you and all the stick infractions? heh…
Other than that, more of this Chris Stewart, please. Also, I could get used to a Blues team that actually scores more than 2.xx goals a game on average, while still holding opponents to practically nothing.
Bring on the Preds, bring on the Hawks, bring on the Central, and bring on the West. Hockey’s back, and the Blues opened up in style.